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Article: Guns: A Second (Amendment) Look; Courts Have Found No Constitutional Right of Individuals to Bear Arms
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- May 10, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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President Clinton promotes it. The National Rifle Association
preaches it. And pollsters say the public believes in it.
But the judges who interpret the nation's laws say the Second
Amendment to the Constitution does not guarantee an individual's
right to bear arms. In fact, no federal court has ever ruled that the
Constitution guarantees Americans the right to own a gun.
In few areas of law is there such a vast gulf between what people
think the Constitution protects and what the nation's judges say it
protects. The difference between belief and reality infects the
country's perennial gun control debates and exacerbates tensions
after incidents like the 1993 shootout near Waco, Tex., and ...